


Starlight Heart

by Luneth



Category: Starlight Brigade - TWRP ft. Dan Avidan (Music Video), TWRP | Tupper Ware Remix Party (Band)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, I made a lot of stuff up in terms of worldbuilding, Medical Trauma, Some lore from twrp, Whump, evil scientist, mentions of self-harm/suicide, unethical medical practices
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:53:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28000452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luneth/pseuds/Luneth
Summary: Phobos is kidnapped by a scientist who knows of a lucrative opportunity within his body. The rest of the brigade rushes to save him, but find themselves too late. Now they need to find a way to reverse this process. In the meantime, Phobos struggles with the pain, sudden helplessness, and trauma of what was done to him, and Meouch finds himself reminded of uncomfortable events of the past.
Relationships: Commander Meouch & Lord Phobos (TWRP)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	1. The Phobos Thing

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what this is. I don't know what I'm doing. Who let me do this. It was my friends. They enabled me. They enabled me to write some kind of angsty fic for a band that dances around in space suits. I dunno they just look like they're having so much fun and that animation is so damn cool!
> 
> I'm so sorry Phobos. I didn't know blowing your ship up in that other fic would lead to this.
> 
> Ummm check me out on lunethwrites.tumblr.com

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where'd Phobus go?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to incorporate as much TWRP lore as I could into this. Which, if you know some of the TWRP lore, is really hard to do seriously. What am I doing?
> 
> Anyway I guess Havve talks through a telepathic link with Sung and Phobos likes to play guitar on high up places.

“Hello!” Sung poked his head into the common room. “Has anyone seen Phobos? Meouch was looking for him.”

“Huh?” Strive looked up from his project at the table. He was in the process of reassembling a standard blaster. Sung has insisted he know the weapon in and out, to be able to properly maintain it. “Not since this morning?” Across the room, Havve raised his head to face Sung, and his eyes flashed once.

“Ah!” Sung straightened up and nodded, telepathic message received. “He’s doing the thing. Of course.” Strive shot a quizzical look between the two, but before he could ask Meouch tromped in, holding his bass in one hand.

“Yo! Did Phobos come through here?”

Sung turned to face him. “He’s doing the thing, Meouch.” Meouch scowled.

“Ah, typical.”

“What’s Phobos doing?” Strive asked. Meouch glanced over at him.

“He’s doing the thing. The Phobos thing.”

“ _ What _ is the thing?” Strive tried again, just a little frustrated. Meouch blinked in confusion while Sung tossed his head back to laugh.

“Ah yes. Sorry Strive. Sometimes I forget you haven’t been part of the team for very long.” He flicked his hand out with a grin. “We’re referring to one of Phobos’ hobbies. Have you noticed whenever we stop at a planet, he disappears for a bit?” Strive’s eyebrows creased together.

“No? Maybe? I assumed he was just in his room or something. Brian disappears more often.” Strive jerked a thumb over at Brian, who was sitting alone against the wall, not doing anything, just glaring at them, as usual. “Is he out shopping?”

“Nope!” Sung flashed him a thumbs-up. “He has a little hobby, you see-”

000

Phobos had found a nice little spot on top of the town’s main mercantile structure, the highest view in the area, to be sure. It was so perfectly peaceful here, far above the activity of the city. Alone on his perch, he practiced some basic scales on his guitar, then started to strum out the song that the team had been working on in their spare time. It would still be a couple of hours before he had to get back to the others, so he had some time to unwind before the next mission.

Or so he thought. He had barely managed to get a few chords out before four small drones had flown down to surround him. He cocked his head to the side. Security cameras? Curious to what he was up to? He raised one hand in a friendly gesture.

They hovered closer, and he realized the design was far too advanced for anything he had seen on his planet. He tensed, then shifted his weight back. A second before his jet pack activated the drones each released a beam of energy, capturing him in a force field that pinned his arms to his sides. His guitar clattered to the floor as they rose upwards, lifting him off his feet.

Phobos kicked his jet pack into gear and the blast broke him out of their hold. He shot upwards and stretched his hand out. The homing on his guitar activated and it flew up into his hold. Arcing around in a sharp turn he swung the guitar into the closest drone, crushing it. He winced as the strings snapped with a twang, but he didn’t carry his blaster on a peaceful planet. He activated the communicator in his glove and brought it up to his mouth.

“Brigade!” He shouted. “Hostiles here! Small flying drones, not from this planet.” He got only static back in return. He had a chance to give his device an alarmed look before something hit him in the back of the neck, right below the helmet. It stuck, and a charge of electricity ran through him. He lost consciousness, dropped out of the sky, and the drones caught him in their field again. His guitar crashed down onto the roof as the drones swiftly carried him upwards into the sky. After that, just silence, as the peaceful stillness of the environment settled over the area once again.

Time passed. Long enough for the nearest star to creep down toward the horizon, long enough for the typical evening fog to settle over the city. Through the thick layer of mist, a small silver ship glided up around the tower and touched down onto the roof. The cockpit opened and Strive hopped out.

“Phobos?” Strive called out as he wandered around the roof. “Sung sent me to get you. We’re about to head out. Phobos?” 

He squinted through the fog, only able to see about a foot or so in front of him. He sure hoped the edge wasn’t closer than he thought. “Phobos!” He called out again. “Are you here?!”

His foot bumped against something. Eyebrows drawn together, he stooped down to pick it up. It was Phobos’ guitar, but now dented, with the strings snapped. Strive’s eyes went wide in alarm, then he hastily fumbled with the communicator on his wrist.

“Guys?” He whispered into it as his eyes scanned the area. “I think we have a problem.”

000

“I’m picking up energy signatures not from this planet.” Sung reported as he waved his scanner around the area. “Dated about two hours ago.”

“Phobos’ jet pack emissions too,” Meouch grunted, holding his own scanner. “Ran into trouble, but escaped?”

“He would have contacted us, then.” Sung tapped at his communicator. “His communicator is offline.” His face twisted into a sharp grimace. He was acutely aware of the meaning behind his own words. “We should assume the worst.”

“He’s dead?” Strive whispered in horror. Sung rounded on him with an alarmed expression.

“No! Er, assume the second worst. He’s been captured.” Havve cocked his head to the side and made a beeping noise. Sung scowled at him. “No Havve, we are not going to think up any other catastrophes and rate them on a scale.”

Brian appeared out of the mist and held up the mangled remains of some kind of drone. Sung pointed at it.

“Did you do that?” He asked. Brian shook his head. “Found it like that, then. That’s signs of a fight, for sure.”

Meouch glared down at the ground in thought, arms crossed as his lip curled back just a little, showing off the sharp teeth underneath. Sung noticed and came over to join him.

“Something on your mind, friend?”

Meouch shook his head. “Just wondering what they’d want with Phobos, is all.” He muttered. “Honestly, I hope it’s just a ransom.” Sung nodded in understanding.

“As do I.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Strive: Wait where did Phobos go?  
> Meouch: He likes to be tall.  
> (Later Phobos being carried off into the sky: This is too tall!)
> 
> Phobos: You made me drop my guitar! (Immediately uses said guitar to trash a drone.)


	2. Contact Made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starlight Brigade is pissed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Points up at warnings* This isn't going to be really bad until the next chapter but like...if you're going to be triggered by medical abuse or (just to be safe) institutionalization please please don't read this.

Back at Mothership, they had a breakthrough. Tracing the communication capabilities of the broken drone, they managed to pick up a faint frequency. Try as they might, however, their tracking software couldn’t pinpoint the location, and kept getting thrown off.

“They’re good,” Sung grumbled as he glared down at the screen. “Maybe we’ll have better luck if we can call them.”

“Strange they haven’t reached out to us yet.” Meouch grimaced and crossed his arms, then shook his head as if to clear away some dark thought. “Yeah. Call them.”

“Hailing them now,” Sung reported. With the room crackling with nervous energy, they watched the screen in silence. The message went through, then no response. Sung frowned and tried again. The message went through once more, but again no response.

Meouch scowled and crossed his arms. “They’re ignoring us,” he growled. 

“Not for long they won’t.” Sung punched the hail button over and over like a doorbell. “We’ll simply have to _make_ them acknowledge us somehow. Let’s see if I can turn the volume up on this thing...Hm?” Sung looked up as Havve tapped him on the shoulder, then pointed at himself. “You have an idea, Havve? Well, by all means!” He stepped aside to let Havve approach the console. 

A wire snaked out of Havve’s hand to click into the audio jack of the console. A second later an absolutely horrible screeching sound filled the room, shaking the walls and causing everyone to yell and clap their hands over their ears.

“Havve!” Sung gasped once the noise had faded. “Did you have to subject _us_ to that as well?!” Havve cocked his head to the side, his eyes blinking once.

“They’re responding!” Meouch called out as the machine beeped and a connection opened up. They all gathered around the console, and for some reason, intentional or not, Strive found himself completely blocked from view by the camera. His cheeks blew out in indignation, but at least he could see the screen as it flickered on above them.

“Do you _mind_?” They found themselves facing a male humanoid alien, with silver skin that reflected a metallic tint. He was dressed in some kind of sterile garb, like a doctor would wear for a surgery. His face tensed into a grimace of faint annoyance, as if they were salespeople pushing a product.

“Where is Phobos?!” Sung asked outright. The man cocked an eyebrow at him, then a realization dawned on him and he leaned back.

“Ah, the Starlight Brigade. A pleasure, though you aren’t what I expected. Noticed something was missing, did you?”

Meouch leaned forward on the console as his lip curled back. “Physik,” he growled. The man’s expression turned to faint surprise.

“Oh, Meouch. Is that you? Small world.”

“You know him?” Strive whispered. Meouch scowled.

“Barely. I knew he was a right bastard, but didn’t think even he’d go this far.”

“You’ve gotten so soft, Meouch.” Physik cupped his hand over a yawn. “Suddenly acting so high and mighty, on the ‘good side.’ Disappointing, and almost hysterical.”

Brian grunted, then pointed to something in the corner of the screen. Physik seemed happy to oblige, because a second later the camera shifted. There was Phobos, strapped down on a metal operating table. He looked unharmed but...beside him was a desk on which various tools glimmered in the light.

“Phobos!” Sung slammed his hands on the console and snarled at Physik. “You! You will not lay a finger on him, do you hear me?!”

“Perish the thought, Doctor.” Physik leisurely pulled on a pair of thin white gloves. “I’m always careful to avoid contamination in my procedures.”

“Don’t do this, Physik.” Meouch shifted his weight, resting a hand on his hip with a stone-faced expression. “You’re underestimating the consequences. Back out now. Let Phobos go. We’ll pay a ransom equal to what you’d get on any market.”

“You’re simple-minded,” Physik answered in an airy tone, “-and full of hot air. Do any of your friends have anything more interesting to say?”

“Let him go!” Strive pushed himself to the front, unable to hold himself back any longer. “If you hurt him we’ll...we’ll hunt you down and make you pay!” At that, Physik seemed quite startled, then he leaned in to peer harder through the channel.

“By the stars, is that a Moebian?”

Meouch grabbed Strive’s arm and yanked him back behind him and Sung. Physik grinned and straightened.

“On second thought, I would relish your attempt to come stop me.” He reached over and tapped something on his own console. All of a sudden their tracking software roared to life, displaying rapid calculations and soon, a location. Physik gave them a smirk.

“I’ll be done by the time you get here, but don’t worry. I won’t kill him.”

With that, the communication cut out. Sung swore and rammed his fist into the wall.

000

Physik ended the call, then turned to walk back to the table. Phobos struggled against the metal shackles binding him down, but he looked up as Physik approached. “Tell me,” Physik said, “how did the Starlight Brigade come to have a Moebian in their care?”

“What makes you think I’ll tell you anything?” Phobos shot back. The man sniffed and snapped his fingers.

“I’ll give you the chance to change your mind during the procedure.”

Several spider-like drones hopped up onto the table. With low-powered lasers, they cut away at Phobos’ jacket, then dragged the shredded clothes away. Underneath, Phobos’ body was a surface of dark stone, but it moved smoothly as he breathed. Cracks like veins wound their way around his torso, and within them glowed a faint red light. They all branched out from the center of his chest, which shone with that same red light. Physik rested his hand over it, watching in fascination as he felt the faint warmth under the surface, the soft hum within.

“If you take it, I’ll die,” Phobos said. A smile spread across Physik’s face. 

“Are you begging for your life?”

“I’m stating a fact you seem to not realize,” Phobos answered, his voice steady. “Why lie to the others if you knew?”

“Don’t worry,” Physik plucked up a tool from the desk beside him. “As I said, I won’t kill you.” With a click of a button, a short laser knife burst from the tip. Phobos clenched his fists tight. Physik grinned and a sadistic pleasure gleamed in his eyes as he held it above him.

“Feel free to scream.”

000

The command room was left in a tense silence. “Meouch,” Sung looked to him. “Do you know what he’s planning?”

“I have an idea,” Meouch’s face darkened and he scratched at the back of his mane. “It’s not a secret I’d ever thought I’d tell but...I guess it’s ok for you guys.” He shot Strive a look, then faltered. Sung rested a hand on Strive’s shoulder.

“I know he’s young, Meouch, but he’s part of the team. He deserves to know as well.”

“I can handle it,” Strive told him. “Please.”

“Fine.” Meouch scowled and crossed his arms. “Not many people know this but...Phobos’ heart is worth a fortune on some black markets.”

Havve cocked his head to the side. “Organ market?” Sung translated. “There would be no demand.”

“No,” Meouch shook his head. “It’s the material. A unique form of energy, more efficient than any fuel we have, and because of its rarity, more valuable than any gem in the galaxy.”

“That man said he wouldn’t kill him,” Strive twisted his fingers together and his ears curled downward in anxiety. “If he takes Phobos’ heart...”

“Phobos will die,” Meouch finished. “No question. I don’t know what else he would be after, though.”

“We have not a moment to waste, then.” Sung turned back to the tracking program. “He seems confident enough to give us a position, we’ll have to be careful. Expect a trap.” He raised his head with a determined expression. “But we ARE going. Hang in there, Phobos.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting the feeling that Physik isn't a real great guy.
> 
> *Physik minding his own business just trying to prep for his evil plans.*  
> Sung: DING DONG DING DONG DING DONG  
> Physik: They'll stop eventually.  
> Havve: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  
> Physik: For fuck's sake.  
> Phobos: Lol suffer.


	3. The Procedure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They find Phobos, but...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Points at medical-related tag warnings above* It's not TOO bad but if that squicks you out...yeah.
> 
> Meouch of course has better morals than Physik, but Physik always saw him as a wild and crude savage. That's why he finds it so ridiculous he would join the Starlight Brigade of all things.
> 
> Oh yeah, I'm purposefully avoiding describing what Phobos looks like under the helmet. Just, fill in your own headcanons. *shrug*

Once the coordinates were confirmed, the group convened to discuss the plan.

“Strive,” Sung said, “you stay here.”

“What?!” Strive yelped and jerked up. “No way! Why can’t I come?!”

“I don’t like the way Physik looked at you.” Sung propped a hand on his hip as he pointed at him. “He obviously invited us over once he saw you, so at the very least we aren’t going to give him what he wants.”

“We’re down one person already!” Strive argued. “What would me staying behind help? You don’t have to protect me.”

Sung scowled and rubbed his chin. They didn’t have time to waste convincing Strive to stay behind, but he didn’t want to end it as “because I said so” either. Brian held up a blow dart and quirked an eyebrow in question, but Sung hastily shook his head. Strive glanced Brian’s way but in a flash the other was back to his stoic, arms-crossed position, no dart in sight.

“Think of it this way,” Meouch gestured at Strive. “If we all fail and get captured, he might not kill us, because he still doesn’t have you.” Havve beeped in agreement while Strive went pale. Sung groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Not that that’s gonna happen!” Meouch clapped his hands together with a grin, talking quickly before Strive could answer. “We’ll be in and out before they know we’re there! Just keep a lookout for us coming back with Phobos in tow, alright?”

“Well…” Strive hunched his shoulders, but nodded. “Fine, but you better come back ok!”

“We will!” Meouch slung an arm around Sung’s shoulders, pushing him off to the ships as he called over his shoulder. “Just you watch!”

“Thanks, Meouch,” Sung whispered as they headed for the hangar. Meouch just shrugged.

“Just don’t make a liar outta me, ya hear?”

“I won’t.”

They took off among a small army of drone ships, activating their cloaking immediately. Ahead of them loomed a large ship, orbiting a moon off by the edge of this system. As the drones raced out to engage the ship, the brigade glided off around to the other side. Their diversion drew most of the fire off of them, allowing them to slip in through the overloaded shields and ram their way in through a loading dock. They settled down in the hanger, and found it empty. Neither person nor droid awaited them.

Meouch frowned as he crept out of his ship, blaster ready. “Huh...no welcome party?”

“Look alive.” Sung hopped out of his own ship and started for the door. “I refuse to believe we weren’t noticed.”

They kept a tight formation as they headed down the hall. Sung looked down at the holographic radar projected from his glove.

“I’m picking up Phobos’ life signs up ahead...and no one else’s.”

“No Physik then, either?” Meouch scanned the area as they strode through the passageways. “This is way too easy.” He caught sight of a security camera and sneered at it until Brian hurled a knife into it, snapping it from its mooring.

This is it.” Sung pointed at the metal doors ahead. They didn’t activate as they approached, so Havve and Meouch blasted them apart, then tore them open the rest of the way.

They entered the lab, and there was Phobos, still on the table, but no longer unharmed. His chest had been cut open, and several tubes snaked out of it, connecting to a stout cylindrical machine sitting nearby. He didn’t move as they approached, but the monitors nearby at least showed that his vital signs were stable.

“Oh, stars...” Sung covered his mouth with one hand. Brian knelt down beside the table. With several slender bits of metal he began to fiddle with the shackles around Phobos’ arm. As they came to stand around the table, they saw that nestled within Phobos’ chest was a small metal device, one light blinking red in a steady rhythm. This device was what connected to the tubes, which connected to the larger machine. Sung reached out toward the tubing, but a voice called out to stop him.

“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.”

They spun around. It was Physik, or at least a hologram of him. It flickered, transparent, as he watched the group with disdain.

“Hm,” he leaned over to peek around them. “The Moebian isn’t with you, is he?”

“Come out of hiding, coward!” Sung swung his arm out. “What have you done to Phobos!?”

“I’ll let you in on some information.” Physik rested a finger to his temple, regarding them. “If you stop the device, he will die.”

“His heart.” Meouch looked sick as he stared down at the hole in his chest. “You took it, and gave him this artificial thing instead?”

“I took most of it,” Physik corrected him. “The device keeps him alive, and slowly his core will regrow.” Meouch scowled as he turned to face him.

“But that’s not good enough for you,” he growled. “You wouldn’t keep him alive for no reason. You’d leave him to die.”

“Obviously,” Physic scoffed. I’m not a foolish bleeding heart like you.” 

The machine beeped, and Sung glanced over at it from the corner of his eye. Dimly, he could make out a stream of glittering sand, trailing through one of the tubes from Phobos’ chest into the machine.

“What the...” Sung leaned over to peer closer. “What was that?” Physik beamed. It seemed whatever it was, his pride would not let him stay silent. 

“I told you his heart would regrow, didn’t I?” He looked at the machine with admiration. “Every bit he grows back I’ll collect. I’ll crash the market if I’m not careful.”

Meouch made a growling hiss in the back of his throat and shook his head. “Just when I thought you had sunk to the bottom,” he muttered. “Phobos isn’t the only one missing a heart.”

“Would you rather he be dead?” Physik asked and waved a hand at them. “With my technology, he still lives. See for yourself.”

Sung eyed the machine with unease, then reached over for Phobos’ neck to check his vitals. To his surprise Phobos turned his head toward him and opened his eyes.

“S...ung,” he rasped. Sung grabbed his arm and squeezed it tight.

“We’re here to save you, Phobos. Just stay calm-”

Phobos would not stay calm. He began to jerk and strain against his shackles, causing Brian to make a disgruntled noise over his work.

“D-Dying,” Phobos choked out, “I’m, dying-!”

“You’re going to be fine,” Sung insisted. “We’ll get you out of here, and fix all this.”

Brian clicked something into place, and the shackle popped free. Phobos immediately slung his arm around to grasp the tubing around his chest. Before anyone could stop him he ripped the whole contraption out. The glow in his chest sputtered out and he fell limp. The monitors screamed in warning.

The group sprang into action. “Havve!” Sung shouted as he grabbed Phobos’ shoulders. “Shock to his chest, 900 volts!”

Havve pressed a hand over his chest and there was a flash of light that jostled Phobos’ body like a rag doll. It made his core flicker for a second, but nothing more. Sung began a rapid series of compressions, cursing under his breath all the while. Phobos did not stir, and the beeping of the monitors told them they were rapidly running out of time.

“It won’t do any good,” The hologram called out. “He needs the device, or he’ll be dead in seconds.”

“You shut up!” Meouch snapped. “Havve, try a steady current!”

Havve again brought his hand to Phobos’ chest, and his body shuddered, but his core did not light up. Havve tilted his head to the side and gave a series of frantic beeping. The readings on the machine were plummeting, and a warning flashed that Phobos would soon be unable to be resuscitated.

Sung clenched his teeth, hesitated for just a second, then grabbed the device and shoved it back into Phobos’s chest. It clicked into place, and a faint glow returned to Phobos’ core. The readings stabilized, then started to climb back to normal.

Behind them, Physik laughed. Meouch snarled and hurled a tool off the desk at him, though it passed right through him. “It’s entertaining,” Physik admitted, “watching you bumble on in desperation, then accept futility.”

Phobos stirred, then seized and tried to sit up. Sung hastily held his hands up to stop him.

“Phobos don’t-”

“O-Out-!” Phobos gasped. “Get it out!” He reached for the tubing again but Sung grabbed his wrist.

“Easy, friend. Calm— Calm down!” He yelped as Phobos fought him. In his state it wasn’t enough to actually hurt Sung, but it was dangerous to himself, and Brian stepped in to help hold him still.

Physik snapped his fingers. “Sedation,” he called out. Phobos froze up, then slumped back down onto the table. Sung jerked back in alarm, then swung around to glare at Physik.

“Monster!” He snarled. His words made Physik’s eyes crinkle in amusement.

“No need to raise a fuss,” he drawled. “Look on the bright side. Your friend gets to stay alive. I’ll take good care of him. He’ll live for a _very_ long time, I assure you.”

“You think we’ll accept that?!” Sung swung his arm out in a sharp motion. Physik fixed him with a droll look.

“No, but at this point my security has surrounded you.”

Four doors on all sides opened at once. Physik offered a sarcastic wave in farwell.

“Perhaps the Starlight Brigade can make it out alive. Fight your way out, and leave Phobos behind, or stay and surrender. Either way works for me.”

The hologram flickered out, and the four of them made a circle to take on the drones marching into the room.

“Havve,” Sung grabbed his blaster out of his belt, “prediction?” Whatever Havve answered with made his scowl deepen. “Can you get Phobos off that machine and stable?” Havve shook his head. Sung cursed and fired at the first line of drones. Brian managed to make faster work of the rest of the shackle mechanisms, and he shot Sung a nod and a two-finger salute.

“We aren’t leaving without Phobos.” Sung checked the battery on his blaster, then compared it with the small army of drones still streaming out of the building.

“We can’t hold this room,” Brian spoke in a low tone; Things looked bad enough that even he felt the need to say something. Sung gave a reluctant nod.

“They’ll surround us at this rate. If we don’t get out now-”

“Fine!” Meouch snarled and crouched down beside the machine. “Then we’ll take the damn thing with us!” He heaved the whole thing up with a grunt, then looked to Havve. “Take Phobos.” Havve nodded and gathered Phobos up, snapping free the other wires and tubes on him. Sung winced, prayed they weren’t important, then swung his arm over his shoulder to beckon them on.

“Brian and I will clear the way, let’s go!”

They charged toward the wall of drones. Brian hurled a knife into the head of the first, then leapt up onto it to send it toppling down and clear a way for the others behind him. They broke through and went sprinting back through the hallway they had gone.

Havve grabbed the machine out of Meouch’s hands, nestling it beside Phobos in his arms. Meouch switched to rear guard, firing off at any droids that came their way. The droids fired back, and a shot hit Meouch in the thigh. He roared in pain and fell down on one knee, causing the others to pause and look back.

“Go!” He snarled, still firing at the droids. “Get Phobos out of here!”

Brian darted back down the hall and hurled a smoke bomb at the coming droids. As it hissed to life and filled the air he grabbed Meouch and hoisted him up, helping him stumble the rest of the way to the hangar. 

“Can you fly?” Brian asked. Meouch grunted and waved him off.

“I’ll manage.” He watched Havve carrying Phobos into his own ship. “Let’s go.”

Havve shot out the blast doors and they took off through the debris. Around them, they could see swarms of drones flying around and ahead of them, trying to cut them off.

A silver streak shot through the drones, scattering their formation and distracting them from the others. As the small ship wove in and out of the array of drones, their coms lit up and Strive’s voice shouted in.

“Wasn’t this a stealth mission?!”

“You know they never end that way!” Meouch hollered back. “Phobos is with Havve. Get the attention off him!”

Strive didn’t answer, presumably because the space acrobatics he was doing were taking all his concentration. They shifted their formation, with Meouch and Brian keeping the drones back as Sung orbited around Havve’s ship, and Strive sowed chaos from the outside. Together, they managed to break through into Mothership’s protective shields and cover-fire. Strive zipped around to fly next to Havve.

“Is Phobos ok?”

“Truthfully, it’s hard to say.” Sung pulled in to circle around the docking area. “We’ll talk inside.”

000

They got Phobos to the medical bay and managed to hook the machine up to a power source before it ran out of batteries. Sung filled Strive in while Meouch got his leg patched up. The doctors reported that Meouch’s injury was light, and would heal with a week of rest. Now, the team gathered around Phobos’ bed, pondering what to do next.

Brian pointed to Phobos’ arms and raised an eyebrow in question. Sung frowned and shook his head.

“We aren’t going to restrain him, not if we can help it. I’ll stay here until he wakes up. In the meantime, we should confer on how to fix this situation.”

“Do we know how it works?” Strive grimaced as he examined Phobos’ wound. “Can we like, gradually pull it out?”

“If we can stop the machine from harvesting his heart any further...” Sung squatted down beside the machine. “It would be simple if there was a switch, or some kind of settings interface.”

“This thing is full of heart dust, right?” Meouch slapped his hand over the top of it. “What if we just...poured it back in?”

Sung pursed his lips together, then popped the door to the machine open. Inside were rows of vials, but all of them empty, save for one, that had just a sliver of dust at the bottom. “I don’t know if he emptied it often, or if the process is this slow,” Sung said, “but either way, it would take a long time.”

“I don’t think the dust would work anyway,” Strive commented. He peeked into Phobos’ chest, where the remains of his heart resembled a cluster of geodes. “Unless we could fuse it back?”

“Havve suggests a replacement,” Sung said, “but I don’t know enough about Phobos’ physiology to know what we could use.”

“Maybe-” Strive began, then fell silent and shook his head. “No, never mind.”

“No need to hold back, Strive.” Sung made an encouraging gesture to him. “What is it?”

“I don’t think it would work, but...” Strive pressed his fingers together and looked down at the floor. “On Moebius, we have a technique for healing cracks in our cores.” He shook his head. “But just cracks. We can’t grow a core back, and I don’t know if it would work on Phobos’ species anyway.”

“It could still be a help!” Sung propped his hands on his hips. “Thank you for speaking up. At this point we should collect any information we have.

Their conversation eventually woke Phobos. He groaned and dragged his head around to squint at them.

“Phobos!” Sung clapped his hands, looking pleased, if also a bit nervous. “How are you feeling?”

“Where-” His eyes flickered around, taking in the surroundings. “-the med bay?”

“That‘s right!” Sung flashed him a thumbs-up. “Safe and sound! Though, we aren’t sure how to get you off that machine. We’re working on it though! So please don’t...” He led off with a meaningful noise. Phobos looked down at his chest, and the tubes sticking out of it. His hands twitched, but didn’t move any further.

“...I’m calm now,” Phobos told him. He took in a shuddering breath, then hissed it out through his teeth. Strive approached him, biting his lip.

“Is it...does it hurt?”

Phobos nodded. “More than that...it’s like...I’m dying,” he had a short, halting way of speaking, taken between shaking gasps of breath. “One second away...from death...one moment before the end...continuously.”

Sung’s face twisted in sympathy and he placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll fix this,” he promised, “for now, you’re safe.”

“So uh-” Meouch crossed his arms. “Don’t...pull it out again, yeah?”

“No...strength...” Phobos grimaced and glared down at it. “Couldn’t...even if, I wanted to.” He shut his eyes and let his head fall back, taking another shuddering breath. “And believe...me. I want...to.”

“At ease, friend.” Sung gave his shoulder a light squeeze, but it made Phobos shudder.

“Please...don’t.” His shoulder twitched against Sung’s hand, an attempt to free it. “Touch.”

“Ack!” Sung yanked his hand back. “Apologies! I understand.”

“Thanks...” he mumbled. His voice was falling, and his head began to loll off to the side.

“Rest now.” Sung raised his hand as if to pat him on the shoulder again, then stopped halfway and pulled it back. “We’ll get this sorted out in no time.”

Phobos didn’t answer; he was already asleep. Sung turned to the others and shooed them all out of the room to talk in the hall.

“I’ll stick around here a while longer,” Sung jerked a thumb at himself, “see if I can figure anything out about that machine.” Havve cocked his head to the side, and Sung raised a hand to placate him. “I won’t push myself too far. Don’t worry. The rest of you get some rest. Yes even you, Havve. I can tell your batteries are low.”

“And you, doc?” Meouch crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. “Are we going to find you passed out on the floor here later?”

“I’ll check on him later,” Strive offered. “I don’t really need to rest since, you know, I wasn’t allowed to go.” He shot Sung a sour look, though there was no bite to it. Sung just sighed and shrugged.

“Next time, Strive. Promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The real reason Sung didn't want Strive to come was because he knew he was going to swear so much on this mission.
> 
> Havve, of course, is the one to suggest they just replace his heart with something else, like an 808 drum.


	4. Searching for a Solution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group searches for some way to fix this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm adding "mentions of self-harm and suicide" to the tags just to be safe cause Phobos almost killed himself last chapter and Sung wanted to talk to him about that.
> 
> Imagine waking up to your body screaming at you that you're dying and there's something stabbing into your chest directly where your heart is. Yeah, Phobos, I wouldn't sleep well either.

Days went by, but progress was slow. Sung and Havve studied the machine from every facet, Brian and Meouch searched for Physik, and Strive contacted his grandfather about crystal healing. All the while Phobos remained in the med bay. Not dying, but not healing either, and every so often shards of his heart would trickle away, absorbed by the machine. He watched, silent.

It was clear to the rest of them how much he was suffering. He slept fitfully. Sometimes he woke up in a panic, gasping and clawing at his chest. Then whoever was there had to grab him to keep him from hurting himself, talk to him until he calmed down. He usually fell asleep again immediately after, energy spent, and not wake up for a long period of time.

After this happened a few times Sung sat on the side of the bed and, speaking gently, asked him if he wanted to hurt himself, or worse. Phobos forced a breath, then shook his head.

“Don’t, mean to...” he muttered. “Wake up...panic. Think something...is killing me.” He groaned and let his head fall back. “Need to...get it...out...”

Sung suggested some medications, to help him stay calm, but Phobos declined. He didn’t explain why.

Something _was_ killing him, slowly, but it was keeping him alive as well. The team worked in a frenzy, researching some way to save him.

The moments when he was calm, able to speak, were rare. Even then he didn’t say much. He tended to just stare at the wall, his fingers twitching in imaginary guitar chords.

They took shifts watching over him, both to comfort him and be there in case he panicked again. Often they brought their instruments, stringing together melodies. That seemed to soothe him a little, and sometimes he tapped his fingers along.

One day, Strive ran into Meouch in the med bay. Sung had insisted he get his leg checked regularly, despite Meouch’s assurance he just needed to “walk it off.” Strive himself was just coming back from visiting Phobos. Seeing Meouch, he set his jaw in a look of determination, then called out to him.

“Meouch?” He called out as he trotted over, but when Meouch paused in his step to face him, Strive faltered. Meouch quirked an eyebrow at that. Strive was not one who hesitated on much of anything. It was a trait both admirable and frustrating.

“What’s up, kid?”

“I uh...” Strive looked down at the floor. “I wanted to...ask you something.”

Meouch cocked his head to the side. “Yeah?”

Still Strive hesitated, pressing his lips together tight and fidgeting. Meouch bit back a sigh. He had a feeling he knew where this was going.

“Strive,” he propped a hand on his hip, “if you wanna ask me something, ask.”

Strive nodded and raised his head again to look at him. “How...How did you know that guy? Physik?”

There it was. The million-credit question. Meouch jerked his chin up.

“Before I was in the brigade, I was a smuggler.” Strive’s eyes went wide. Meouch shrugged. “It was a living. I like to think I was one of the ones with standards but…” He grimaced and scratched at the back of his neck. “-don’t they all? The others know, and I’ve left that life behind, but during that time, you meet some people in similar businesses. That’s how I knew Physik. Never had the displeasure of working with him, thankfully enough.” He fell silent, then looked away.

“...Phobos’ species…” He went on, “Well, the name is too long and complex for us to pronounce. Colloquially they’re called Ruddsmen. I...dealt on his planet in the past-- but I didn’t deal in organs!” He added quickly. “Other stuff. But uh...I found out about the heart thing later. Don’t go sharing that info around, by the way. Just in case.”

Strive frowned and his eyebrows drew together in thought, then his face lit up in a hopeful realization. “Hey,” he began excitedly, “what if we contacted Phobos’ planet? Maybe they know how to help him?”

Something tightened in Meouch’s face, and he shook his head. “It’s a good thought,” he told him, “but Phobos’ planet...his civilization...isn’t around anymore.”

“Not…” Strive’s face went pale, then all his excitement deflated and he dropped his head down to stare at the floor. “Oh. I-I didn’t know.”

“He doesn’t talk about it much.” Meouch glanced back over his shoulder at Phobos’ room. “Well, at least not to me, but that’s fair, considering…” He led off. Strive frowned in confusion.

“Considering what?”

For a second it looked like Meouch was about to tell him. His mouth opened, then closed, then he shook his head again.

“Old history. Forget about it.” He grinned, and his dark demeanor changed abruptly to his usual upbeat attitude. “We gotta focus on the present and get Phobos back on his feet, yeah?”

He reached over and viciously mussed up Strive’s hair for good measure, causing him to yelp and protest. As Strive frantically batted his arm away Meouch gave a roaring laugh and went striding off down the hall. Even with his injury, he could walk fast enough that Strive had to run to catch up.

000

Four days later, Brian returned and announced he had picked up on Physik’s location. The news revitalized the group, who hastily came together in the command center to plan.

“It’s settled then. If we cannot solve this on our own-” Sung brought his fist to his chest, “we’ll drag Physik back here and get the secrets out of him!” Strive stood up a bit straighter and gave him a sharp look. Sung sighed and nodded. “Yes Strive, you can come this time. Meouch...” Sung gestured to him, “your leg still needs to heal, so you stay back.” Meouch scowled, but nodded.

“Fine. Rough him up for me.”

Sung shook his head. “I understand your anger, Meouch, but that is not the way of the Starlight Brigade.”

Meouch grumbled something under his breath, but didn’t push it, mostly because behind Sung, Brian was giving him a discrete thumbs-up and a meaningful nod.

“We’ll need a plan,” Sung moved toward the tactic’s table. “Our enemy is no less than a genius. We cannot be unprepared in this.”

“He’s smart, but got way too much pride,” Meouch growled. “And you saw before, but he’s only got non-sentient drones in his hideout. No one with free will would work with him.

“So noted.” Sung rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful. “We could use that to our advantage. Perhaps some widespread hacking or disturbance, so long as Havve doesn’t get caught in it.”

“Wait,” Strive glanced over his shoulder. “Where’s Brian?”

“Huh?” Meouch looked around. “Oh, the fucker slipped off again. Well, he’ll be ready in time.”

“Let’s draw out a plan.” Sung hunched down over the map. “This spot looks vulnerable for a landing. I have some pulse charges that can stun the machines. Havve, if you’ll let me install some temporary dampeners…”

000

“You’re going...to find him?”

“Aye,” Sung nodded, sitting with his hands planted on his knees beside Phobos. “We’re leaving Mothership behind to avoid detection. It’s a longer ride, but hopefully it will pay off with stealth.” He clenched a fist and brought it to his chest. “That dastard must be brought to justice, and he’s bound to know how to reverse…” His lip curled back in distaste as he gestured to the tubing. “-this.” Phobos stared at the machine with a dead glare, then closed his eyes and forced in a breath of air.

“Strive…” he muttered, “...going?” Again Sung nodded.

“We can’t dissuade him. He’d follow along anyway. We’ll keep him safe, don’t worry.”

“...Physik…” The name came in a slow hiss, and Sung pretended not to see the small spike in his vitals on the monitor. “He wants...Strive.”

“We know.” Sung raised one hand to placate him. “We’ll stay together, and we’re going in armed to the teeth. And, dare I say, we’re the ones with the element of surprise this time around.”

Phobos didn’t answer. He appeared to have fallen asleep again. Sung sighed and got to his feet.

“Rest up, friend.” He turned to head back. They were meeting up soon to disembark.

“Sung.” Phobos spoke up as he was almost to the door. Sung glanced back.

“Yes?”

“...Be careful.”

Sung gave a grimace of a smile and nodded.

“Of course. We’ll be back before you know it.”

000

The time came, and the team prepared for launch. Brian wasn’t in the hanger, and his ship was still inert, but they just decided to prepare in the meantime. Strive swept his hands over his ship’s console, watching as the figures lit up on the screen. Everything looked ready. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to relax himself before he set out. Muscles loosening...That’s it...relax...

A hand clamped down on his shoulder in an iron grip, and he yelped and spun around. Brian loomed over him with his usual sharp, terrifying glare.

“Whu-!” Strive took a step back on instinct as he gawked up at him. “Whhhyyyy are you on my ship?!”

He didn’t answer, of course. Meanwhile, Sung called out over the com.

“We’re all set to go! Is Brian here?”

Brian pressed a finger to his lips, bidding Strive be silent, then he pointed out ahead to the gate.

“Uhhhh…” Strive slowly turned himself forward again. “He, Brian…” He glanced back. Brian made an impatient gesture to go on. “He says we should go without him?”

Strive expected Sung to protest, but instead there was a long pause, then he answered in a perfectly calm tone.

“Oh, alright then. Let’s go!”

Sung and Havve’s engines roared to life. Strive quickly placed his hands over his control points. He shot one final look back at Brian, who was standing by the back, arms crossed, then faced the gate again. 

The gates opened and they shot forward, three ships racing out into space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sung has a hard time pushing "violence is not the answer" when so many of his teammates are like "murder is ok."
> 
> Ruddsman is just what I took from that one instagram post. If there's a canon name for Phobos' species please let me know.
> 
> Poor Strive is in for one awkward space flight.  
> Strive: *Starts humming a song to try and calm his nerves*  
> Brian: !!!  
> Strive: O-Or we can be totally silent, the entire ride! Yeah!  
> Brian: *takes electric keyboard out of literally nowhere*  
> Strive: What.


	5. Set in Motion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are going well! (Phobos has a breakdown and Meouch decides to take matters into his own hands)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sung: Meouch you stay here.  
> Meouch: K I'll just go off on my own to figure out some other solution to this issue without consulting anyone.  
> Sung: What  
> Meouch: Have fun!

Phobos struggled to open his eyes. Everything seemed hazy, and his body felt so heavy. But something...something was wrong. He needed to…

He forced his eyes open, and found himself staring down at a metallic floor. He was on his knees, arms bound behind him. Rough metallic hands gripped his shoulders, keeping him in place, keeping him from struggling.

What happened? He couldn’t remember. Everything was so fuzzy but he needed to think, he needed to move.

That  _ thing  _ was still in his chest. He saw the tubing, the glittering sand as it sucked away his essence. His lip curled back and he seethed. Bastard took his fucking heart and put this thing in-

A voice cut into his thoughts, and his blood froze.

“Thought you could escape me?”

He dragged his head up to look. Standing before him was Physik, wielding another one of his laser knives, but this one was longer, almost sword-length. Phobos’ core (what was left of it) ached at the sight of him and he felt anger, revulsion, and panic building up inside.

He tried to get up. The droids shoved him down again. “Don’t strain yourself,” Physik chided him. His eyes shone with a cruel amusement. Phobos snarled back at him.

“How…” Phobos' eyes flickered around. The walls and lights of the lab seemed to warp and sway around him. “How did...I get...here?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Physik’s voice rang across the room through Phobos’ mind. “You belong to me. You will always return here.” He flicked his sword around idly as he spoke. “Your friends are so noble in their efforts, but they can’t save you.” His grin widened. “But, fortunate for me that they tried.”

Then Phobos noticed it. There was a form lying at Physik’s feet, small and curled up. When a blue glow lit up in their chest, Phobos recognized them.

“Strive!” He cried out, tried to get up, but he couldn’t. The droids’ grip dug into his shoulders. He couldn’t get his body to move, he couldn’t even get his voice to carry. Too weak, useless,  _ helpless- _

“Don’t worry,” Physik spoke in his smug, fake-soothing tone, the same one he had used when he had carved into his chest. “I won’t kill him.”

“Get away from him!” Phobos couldn’t breathe, but he forced the words out despite the pain, despite the tears. “Don’t touch him!”

Physik kicked him over so he lay on his back, the jewel of his core exposed. He raised his knife and Phobos screamed. Screamed in desperation, frustration, anger, fear-

“You’re being a nuisance.” Physik raised his hand. “Go to sleep now.”

No, no!

He snapped his fingers, everything started to fade away.

No!

“PHOBOS!” Meouch’s roar snapped him out of his nightmare, and all of a sudden he was back in the medical bay, back on Mothership, with Meouch gripping his shoulders tight.

“Stars,” Meouch growled. “Even in your sleep-”

Phobos grabbed onto Meouch’s arms. “Let go,” he gasped. Meouch’s eyes narrowed, then he slowly, far too slowly, released him. Still, Phobos’ hands remained clamped down on his forearms, his fingers digging in hard in to stop himself from reaching for his chest. Meouch cocked an eyebrow, but didn’t complain. 

“Nightmare,” Phobos muttered. Meouch huffed and sat down on the side of the bed.

“I could tell that. Are you calm now?”

“I’m fine!” Phobos snarled back with a desperation that made Meouch blink. “I’m...fine. D-Don’t...” Phobos clung to his fur and his head dropped down. “Don’t, restrain me, please.”

“Don’t tear your chest out!” Meouch snapped back. “You’re going to kill yourself!”

Meouch hated that his frustration was breaking out, making him yell and grip Phobos too tight. He hated that he couldn’t calm down because the other was shaking, breathing hard and fast.

“Don’t tie me down,” Phobos rasped. “Don’t, sedate me. Forced...” He shuddered, then took a heaving breath before forcing his words out. “I won’t...be able...to handle it...”

“By the stars, Phobos.” Meouch huffed and shook his head. “We...Look, we aren’t going to tie you down, or drug you, ok? This isn’t Physik-” At the name Phobos seized up again, and Meouch winced.

“-Can’t stand it,” Phobos muttered. “I’ll go...insane. Tied down, can’t move. Him touching me and cutting and then forces me asleep...” He rambled off. Meouch’s eyebrows creased together. He wished Sung or Strive were here, better at comforting than he was.

“Rather die,” Phobos mumbled. “Than...that…”

He passed out then and there, slumped against Meouch’s body. Meouch’s face screwed up in frustration and pain as he plopped him back down on the bed.

This was not sustainable. He needed to fix this.

He made sure Phobos was fully asleep, and that the medical staff was around in case something happened, then he headed back to his room.

000

Alone in his room, Meouch booted up his own personal video communicator.

He didn’t keep in contact with many old acquaintances from his smuggling days, or rather, they avoided him now that he was “straight and narrow,” as they said. Still, he had a few old friends who knew he wouldn’t go calling any authorities over some small time deals.

As luck would have it, one picked up his call. The screen flashed on to reveal a female cephilian. Her several arms moved around the small confines of her pad. She was presently focused on one of the plants on the windowsill, but she glanced at him out of the corner of one of her eyes.

“If it ain’t Meouch!” She raised one hand in greeting. “How’s that brigade business treating ya, narc?”

“Been awhile, Skya.” Meouch shot her a good-natured scowl. “And even if I’m fuzz, I ain’t no narc.”

“Aw you’ve always been fuzz. Fuzzy at least. What can I do fer ya?”

“I’m looking for a trade.”

Skya whistled. “Getting back in business?”

“Hardly.” Meouch grimaced and scratched at his temple. “I just need a thing you can’t get through legal channels.”

“Everyone does eventually.” She lounged back in her chair, one hand going out to scratch at the small fluffy creature taking a nap nearby. “And what are you looking for, dearie?”

“A Ruddsman’s heart.”

Her hand froze as her four eyes went wide. She stayed that way, until the fluffy thing pressed up against her hand and she on instinct resumed scratching it.

“Meouch,” she began, “you know I don’t deal in anything near that kind of stuff.”

“I know, I know! I just-” He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Isn’t there some...rich person somewhere keeping it in their...treasure trove or whatever? Stars above I don’t want one straight out of a person. Just like...some old one lying around somewhere.”

“Lying around somewhere,” she echoed as she leaned forward again. “You  _ did _ say a Ruddsman’s heart, right?”

“You know how it is with rich people and taste.”

“Yeah they ain’t got none.” She cocked her head to the side. “What’s got  _ you _ looking for something like that?” Meouch’s face screwed up as he tried to come up with an answer.

“Call it...conservation.”

This made her laugh. “You?!” She gasped. He scowled back at her.

“Look, can you get it? I don’t have the connections anymore.”

“Hm…” She sat back, her arms all crossing over each other as she thought. “I do know a guy…” She spun around in her chair and began to type frantically at her computer. “Give me an hour. I’ll warn you, though. It won’t be cheap. It’ll cost a fortune, plus my own profit of course.”

“How much?”

“Can’t say yet,” she scratched at her cheek, eyes glued to her screen. “But I’m imagining at least a million credits.”

“Deal,” Meouch growled. His answer managed to drag her away from her work to look at him again.

“You serious? Damn that brigade salary must be tight.”

“I have some savings from the olden days.” Meouch leaned forward over the console. “If you can get it into my hands by today, I’ll give you a million and a half.” 

Skya’s eyes sparked, and her bioluminescence flared as well.

“You got it.”

000

The brigade slipped into the ship with remarkably little resistance or alarm. They managed to hack a hangar door and slip in, landing in the empty cargo hold without so much as a shot fired. Physik couldn’t have been more obvious if he had laid out a welcome mat.

“We’re in,” Sung reported. “I’m already picking up some activity. Let’s hurry everyone!”

“Right!” Strive answered through the com and grabbed his blaster, then glanced over his shoulder. Brian was sitting in the back, cross-legged and cross-armed, eyes closed. “Um-” With one sharp movement Brian flapped his hand to gesture that he go. Feeling a bit weird over being shooed out of his own ship, Strive huffed and headed out of the door to join the others.

“Um-!” Strive called out as he hurried over to join the others. Sung pressed a finger to his lips, then gave a very slight headshake. Strive’s eyebrows drew together, but he nodded.

Havve grabbed onto Sung and Strive, yanking them into a bear-hug as several turrets in the wall opened fire. The energy shots hit his metal body harmlessly as he ran into the hallway for cover. Strive had a chance to see one last glimpse of his ship, and a figure in black watching through the port.

“ _ What _ is his deal?” He whispered.

Above them, Physik’s voice echoed over the intercom, “So, a few rats have arrived, is it?” Havve set the two of them down, and they took off running through the hall.

“Havve’s picking up droids ahead!” Sung hissed through grit teeth. “Brace yourselves for a fight!”

Strive clenched his jaw, then Physik’s voice above caught his attention.

“Moebian.”

Strive looked up, despite Sung’s entreaties to ignore him. He could feel it. In whatever way, Physik was watching them, Strive could feel his eyes on him especially.

“Deepest apologies,” Physik said, “but you aren’t leaving this place alive.”

“Don’t listen, Strive!” Sung grabbed his arm to pull him forward. His own tone was rather frantic. “He’s just trying to get into your head. Stay close to Havve.” Strive scowled at him.

“I’m fine,” he answered, and decided to ignore adding that Sung seemed far more worried than him. Instead he just clutched his blaster in both hands as a group of droids appeared up ahead.

Amidst the alarms blaring and the stream of droids rushing to and fro, a shadow slipped out of Strive’s ship. It snuck across the hangar unnoticed, used a knife to pry off the cover of a ventilation shaft, then disappeared inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starlight Brigade: Yeah! We're gonna charge in guns blazing and save the day! Let's go!  
> Brian muttering to himself as he sneaks through the ventilation shafts: Gotta do everything in this goddamn team.
> 
> Meouch: Hey can you get me this extremely rare and valuable crystal/heart?  
> Skya: Meouch I deal in fucking bootleg anime merch wtf


	6. What's your decision?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's see how things pan out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we get to see a clashing in sensibilities: between Phobos and Meouch, and between Sung and Brian.
> 
> I will continue to describe Phobos making facial expressions while still avoiding what he looks like. How many eyes?? Mouth? Who knows. Dude is just perpetually in his helmet in my mind.

The jewel in the box glowed a dark purple. Meouch scowled as he examined it from all sides. The jagged edges of Phobos’ core were red. Did they come in different colors, or was this one just older? Skya had even included a certificate of authenticity, and more importantly, his instincts were telling him it was legit. A rough clump of crystal, humming faintly. He could feel the energy sparking at his fingers through the box. It was a Ruddsman’s heart alright.

A heart was a heart, right? Or well, a crystal was a crystal?

Hopefully. Now came the hard part: talking to Phobos.

As soon as Meouch walked in with the box under his arm, Phobos looked straight at him with a dark expression.

“Get that away from me,” He said, “I want no part in it.”

Meouch stopped in his tracks, then his eyebrows drew together tight and he scowled. “I didn’t rip it out of a person.” He sat down beside him. “It’s just an organ transplant.”

“You are holding something sacred,” Phobos muttered. “That is a person’s essence.”

“It was probably sitting above some rich guy’s fireplace before now,” Meouch pointed out. It was insensitive, he knew, but he had never been a very sensitive guy. This situation didn’t strike him as the time to start. “Just...would it work? We could get you off of that machine.”

“I don’t want it,” Phobos muttered.

“Will it work?” Meouch snapped. “Yes or no?” Phobos turned his head to face him.

“If I say yes,” he asked, “would you shove that core into my chest against my will?”

Meouch fell silent. Phobos didn’t say anything more. Several seconds stretched on, punctuated only by the steady beep of the machines.

“...No.” Meouch growled, then looked away. “I...I won’t, ok?”

“...It will not work,” Phobos told him. “You cannot...replace one soul with another. It would reject me...and I would reject it.”

“Figures.” Meouch heaved a sigh as he set the box down on the bedside table. “I’ll put it here then, or is that making you uncomfortable?”

“It’s...fine.” Phobos stared at it. “How much...did you pay?”

“Forget it,” Meouch growled.

They were silent for a while. Maybe Phobos had fallen asleep again, or he was just gathering his strength. Either way, he spoke up again some time later. “Thank you,” he said. “You went through...the effort. I could have told you...not to bother.”

“It was a shot in the dark,” Meouch grunted, “and truthfully, I didn’t know how to bring it up to you.” His lip curled back and he glared at the box with a kind of frustrated grief. “I dunno, maybe I’m just trying to pay back dividends for the mess I made back on your planet.”

“Huh…” Phobos tilted his head back to take another slow breath. “Didn’t know...you still held...guilt for that.”

“Neither did I.” Meouch’s face scrunched up into a tight scowl. “But I’ll be damned if another Ruddsman dies on my watch.”

“Just a...Ruddsman?” Phobos managed a crooked smile. “Not...your friend?”

“Don’t be like that,” Meouch crossed his arms. “Of course a friend. I mean-” He huffed and shook his head. “You and the others...shit, you’re family to me. No way around that. I’d follow the lot of you into a black hole, and you know it.”

“Hah…” Phobos exhaled softly, almost a laugh. “Yeah...I know.” His hand crawled up toward his chest, stopped, then clenched tight instead. Meouch noticed, and grimaced.

“Here.” Meouch extended his arm out to him. “If you gotta tear something out, tear my fur out, not your chest.” Phobos looked to him in surprise. Meouch shrugged. “Won’t kill me.”

Phobos reached out and grabbed ahold of Meouch’s fur. “...Soft,” he commented. “...nice.”

“If you tell the others about this I’m breaking your guitar.”

“It’s...broken already.”

“Sung fixed it.” Meouch snuck a glance at Phobos’ vitals on the monitor, just to check. “So you better not think about dying on us.”

“I won’t...not yet...” Phobos sighed and his eyes fluttered closed. His voice was starting to strain. “Have faith...the others...”

“Course I have faith in them,” Meouch huffed, “just don’t have faith in that bastard Physik.” He grimaced when Phobos seized up. “Aw stars, just...forget it. Get some rest. I made ya gab long enough.”

“Hn…” Phobos took another deep breath. “Wake me...if you hear...from the others.”

“Course,” Meouch answered. “I’m sure they’re having the time of their lives out there.”

000

“That was my last pulse round,” Sung reported as a staticky explosion echoed down the hall behind them. “They recovered far quicker than I expected.”

“My blaster is low on power,” Strive announced as he examined the meter. Sung tossed him his and grabbed the nunchaku out of his belt.

“No choice but to keep moving.” Sung beckoned them onward down the hallway. “Stars, this place is like a maze.”

The hallways finally ended with an open doorway. With no other option and droids at their heels, they went through. The doors slammed closed behind them. Havve immediately spun and turned his weaponry on them, but when the blast cleared, they stood firm without a dent. Sung clenched his teeth and gripped his weapon, then scanned the room. It was of medium size, with two doors, now both shut tight. Before them was a small army of heavyweight drones, each taller than Havve. However, they didn’t move, just stood at attention, green lights pulsing over their bodies.

Sung watched them with bafflement. “What is this?” He muttered.

“It should be obvious.” Their heads snapped up as Physik’s hologram flickered on in front of them. He stood there in the air above them, arms clasped behind him. “It is a trap.” Strive pointed his blaster at him but Sung placed a hand on his wrist to stop him, shaking his head.

“Just a hologram, won’t do any good.” Strive scowled as he lowered his weapon again. Physik gave them a wry smile.

“Obedient, is he? Now-” He raised one hand as if to snap his fingers. “Shall I have them tear you all to shreds?”

They tensed for a fight, but Physik didn’t move, and a moment later, he lowered his hand again.

“But, that would be a bit expensive,” He regarded them with cold eyes and a smug grin. “And that Moebian crystal could get damaged. I have a better proposition:” He raised a finger. “Moebian, surrender to me, and I will spare your friends. They can be ransomed for...Phobos, was it?”

“Absolutely not!” Sung snarled back. Physik kept talking as if he hadn’t spoken.

“In the end, the trade comes out well for both parties. Two members for one crippled one, and in the end the brigade comes away with four remaining members instead of three, or well two and a half, I suppose.” He held a hand out to him. “The choice is yours, Moebian. Weapons down, and my drones will escort you out.”

“Don’t listen, Strive.” Sung glared at the rows of drones, trying to calculate how many they could take down. “We aren’t bargaining ships, and I will not accept a sacrifice.”

“That is not your choice to decide, Doctor,” Physik shot back. “Why deprive the child of the chance to be a savior? Hm?” He turned his gaze back to Strive, as did Sung and Havve. 

With all eyes on him, Strive...appeared to be doing basic math.

“Two for one…” Strive murmured to himself, counting off with his fingers. “That’s minus me, so Sung and Havve…” 

“Strive?” Sung placed a hand on his shoulder as the concern on his face changed to confusion. Strive shook his head and kept going.

“Then he’s talking about Phobos….” He went on, and his eyebrows furrowed together as he thought hard. “Me and Phobos. Four remaining, versus...three?”

“Yes, child.” Physik answered with an impatient gesture. “You can count, can’t you? You and your two friends, and the three left back at the station.”

Something was becoming clear to the group, and they exchanged a few glances. Still, Strive needed to stall.

“Um, I don’t understand the plan,” Strive began, “Can you repeat it?”

“Do you want your friends to die or not?!” Physik snapped. “Surrender without a fight, and they’ll live. I’ll trade them for Phobos. It’s a better deal than all of you dying here.”

“Uh…” Strive’s eyes darted around. “Sung, h-how many...members of the brigade are there, again? Do we really come out even?”

“...Well,” Sung spoke very slowly, seeming to think over each of his words as he rubbed his chin. “There’s...me, of course. That’s...one. There’s you, so that’s two. There’s...Havve there…”

Physik looked like he was about to have them all vaporized then and there. Still, he was remarkably patient, or perhaps just carried the expectation that everyone around him was a fool.

“There are three of you,” he spoke through grit teeth. “Here, in my trap. I am giving you the _option_ not to die-”

He stopped there, breaking off into a small choking noise. His eyes went wide, and one hand went up halfway to his chest, then he collapsed before them. Through the hologram they could see no less than half a dozen knives sticking out of his back. 

Brian walked into the holographic field. He looked down at Physik, kicked him, then flipped his body off. That done, he glanced back up at the others.

“...Oh, there you are.” Sung’s face broke into a relieved smile, though his tone was not...entirely happy. “Er, I don’t suppose he’s...still alive there, is he?”

Brian didn’t bother checking before shaking his head. Sung sighed.

“Ah. Ok. If you could send us a map we’ll be over to join you in a moment. Can you deactivate the droids from there?”

Brian tilted his head back with a thoughtful expression, then wandered off out of the hologram. In the distance, they heard the sound of metallic crunching and screeching as something was destroyed. Sung sighed and dropped his head down to pinch the bridge of his nose. Above them, the sprinklers went off, raining down flame-retardant solution. The doors opened, then started to close, then stopped halfway. The lights turned red, then green, then flickered out for a moment before turning on in low power mode. The indiscriminate carnage of machinery continued through the hologram as the droids stood in silence.

“Brian...Brian!” Sung called out. “For stars sake Brian you have a PhD! Look...Look for something with a communications beacon!”

There was a pause, then they managed to catch sight of a knife whizzing toward the camera before the hologram abruptly shut off. Sung huffed and propped his hands on his hips.

“Well _that_ he did on purpose.”

Havve raised his blaster at the drones and made a questioning noise. Sung shook his head.

“If they react to attack, we’re in hot water. Assumedly Brian will eventually-”

The drones suddenly all powered down at once, falling onto their knees in their standby positions. Havve lowered his blaster, then cocked his head to the side. Sung blinked in surprise.

“Ah, well that’s one thing down.”

Strive leaned over to whisper to him. “I don’t think we’re getting a map, though.” Sung nodded in agreement.

“We’ll find our way.”

000

“Well these files look promising,” Sung flipped through the files he had found on a tablet. They had indeed eventually found their way to the inner rooms. In a way, Brian had provided a map in the trail of sliced up drones he had left here and there. Now they all stood in what appeared to be Physik’s main office, searching it for details on Phobos’ condition. At least, that was what Sung was doing. Havve was more destroying random pieces of furniture, Strive was investigating this and that out of pure curiosity, and Brian was standing near the entrance, arms crossed, just watching.

“Hm...yes I see. I could work with this.” Sung nodded along as he skimmed the details. “It would take some time, however, and the equipment...I can’t ethically get ahold of this…but maybe there’s a workaround...” He could feel a headache building up in the back of his skull and groaned to himself. The extent of this project stretched out before him, long and arduous and complicated, but if it would save Phobos…

He just hoped Phobos could hang on for that long.

“Sung!” He looked up to see Strive running toward him, a box clutched over his head. “Look what I found in his desk!”

“Is it his methodology?” Sung asked hopefully. Strive’s face screwed up in puzzlement, then he shook his head.

“Uh, no. It’s this.” He held the box out. Sung took one look at it and dropped the tablet in his hands.

“...Oh,” he said. “That could work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This man has a Ph.D but it's not in Compsci. It's in Physics. That means he knows what happens when you apply force to a computer. Eventually you'll break the right one!
> 
> Brian muttering under his breath: Oooo look at me I'm doctor sung I have 134 PhDs instead of 1 I'm sooo smart-wait I think this is the fire alarm system
> 
> Too bad Meouch wasn't here because you know while Sung is trying to calm Brian down Meouch would be yelling to stab him again.
> 
> Physik: Sacrifice yourself for your teammates.  
> Strive: Play dumb.  
> Strive: What teammates?  
> Strive: Not that dumb!
> 
> "That was my last pulse round."  
> What Sung meant: We're in trouble.  
> What Havve heard: I can take the itchy thing out of my head now.


	7. Wrapping Things Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's see if this plan works.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Strive on the way back: Ok so I understand tricking Physik by hiding in another ship, and not talking because he could be watching the coms, and why you didn't bring any blasters or devices to sneak under the radar. I even get that you took advantage of the fact that Physik would be focusing on me most of all. But like, why did you hitch a ride on my ship? Why not Sungs or Havve's, since they're both bigger?  
> Brian, internally: (I feel like in another lifetime, in another universe, I followed you around a lot and whatever shenanigans you got into I was just always in the background, glaring.)  
> Brian, externally: >:(  
> Strive: Right ok never mind.
> 
> Posting the epilogue right after because it's short.

“They’ll be back soon,” Meouch reported, communicator pressed to his ear. “Sounds like Physik’s dead, but they have...something. Something they don't wanna say over the coms. Huh.” Phobos grunted to show he was listening as he lay with his eyes closed.

“They’re...ok?”

“Yeah.” Meouch lowered the communicator. “Everyone’s fine.”

“Good…” Phobos sighed. “Wouldn’t...forgive myself, if-”

Phobos’ eyes snapped wide and he took a sharp breath in. His fingers dug into the bedsheets and Meouch tensed, expecting another panic, but instead he just stared at the ceiling, then slowly turned his head toward the hallway.

“They’re here.”

“What??” Meouch spun around toward the door, but there were no footsteps approaching. Then his communicator lit up, and after a beat he turned his attention back to it.

“Sung?” He held it up to his ear. “What?...Oh, you’re back? Yeah, he’s awake…alright, I’ll tell him.” The call ended, and he turned back to Phobos. “The others are back now. They’re coming here.” Meouch gave him a quizzical look. “What’s with you?”

“I feel it,” he murmured, “but...can’t believe it…” Meouch cocked his head to the side, then sighed and shook his head. He’d find out in a minute, it seemed.

“Phobos! Meouch!” Sung strode in, a bag slung over one shoulder. The others followed him in, filling up the small hospital room. “We have good news!”

“Physik’s dead?” Meouch high-fived Brian as he passed. Sung shook his head.

“No! Well yes, he is, but more importantly, this!” He tugged the bag off his arm and held it up.

Phobos pushed himself up into a sitting position. “Is that-?” He began. Sung beamed and nodded.

“Physik was a prideful man,” He carefully set down the bag on the table. “It seemed he wanted a trophy for his achievements.” Carefully, he pulled out a polished case. Through the clear glass top, they could see the fist-sized red jewel resting on a velvet lining.”

“It’s yours, isn’t it?” Sung asked softly. “Could we reinstall it?”

“...Don’t know.” Phobos reached out, rested a shaky hand over the glass. “It’s mine but...it’s separated. He...cut it…”

“Well then,” Sung propped his hand on his hip and looked to Strive. “Perhaps if we had some technique to fuse the crystal back into place?” Strive’s eyes went wide, then his face broke into a wide grin and he nodded.

“I’ll try it! Uh-” Strive looked to Phobos. “If that’s ok?”

Phobos just stared at him. He looked...stunned. Struck dumb that things could turn out like this, that things could maybe...just maybe, work out.

“...Yeah,” he nodded. “Yeah, I trust you, Strive. You can do it.”

They sedated Phobos, and while waiting for it to take full effect they poured the dust from the machine into the wound for good measure. Strive held the crystal cupped in both his hands, gazing down at it with a mixture of nervousness and wonder.

“Strive,” Sung’s hand hovered over the device, “are you ready?” Strive swallowed, then nodded.

Sung popped the device out, and Strive hastily slid the heart into its place, then he took a deep breath and pressed both his hands over the cracks. He could feel the stars burning around them out in space. Calling on their power, he willed their energy to flow through him, allowing the crystal to turn whole once more.

Under his touch, he felt the core go hot, hot enough that he wanted to pull away, but he resisted. If he burned his hands off for this, so be it.

He felt something shift, like two soup bubbles merging together. He blinked, then hesitantly pulled his hands back.

“Did it work?” He whispered. The cracks were gone. Phobos’ core was glowing again, a little dim, but definitely there. Sung grasped his shoulder and pointed to the monitors. They displayed Phobos’ vitals: stable.

“Ha…” Strive’s legs buckled and he plopped down onto the floor. He had never healed a crystal before, never channeled a star’s power like that. He felt like a worn out rag all of a sudden, but a happy, proud rag.

“Well done, Strive.” Sung clapped him on the shoulder. “Now, we’ll wait and see.”

000

Phobos woke up to eerie silence and a dark room. A second later the lights flickered on and there was a cheer, followed by the sound of a party popper and an absolute shredding of bass, keytar, and drums. He blinked rapidly, then turned to the others.

“...A success, then?” He asked. Strive nodded, beaming ear-to-ear while Brian tossed the used party popper in the trash.

“Vitals are normal!” Sung slapped one of the monitors with a grin. “How are you feeling?”

“Better,” Phobos answered. “Definitely better.” He pushed himself up to a sitting position, then looked down at his chest. No tubing or machinery, just a bandage. In that moment so much tension drained out of him. His shoulders slumped as he gave a heavy sigh, wobbling a little as if he may collapse again. Sung laughed and clapped him on the back.

“Welcome back, friend!”

“Glad to be back.” Phobos raised his head, then gestured to Havve, sitting with his entire drum set, in the hospital room. “How long was I out, that you moved all this stuff in here?”

“Just an hour!” Sung chirped back, hands on his hips. “It actually didn’t take long at all, so we figured we’d put together a bit of a celebration!”

“Strive,” Phobos turned to him. “Thank you.” Strive gave a weak grin in response.

“I’m just glad it worked.”

“Me too.” Phobos patted his chest. “It would have been bad if it had exploded.” Strive blinked, then went pale.

“W-Was that a possibility?”

Phobos stared at him for a disturbingly long time before he answered, “No, I mean, probably not.” Strive gulped, and Phobos cleared his throat before turning away.

“So uh,” Meouch gestured to the box still sitting on the table. “What should we do with that? Do you want to...keep it? Make a shrine?” 

Phobos looked to the box, then shook his head. “I know what to do with it,” he answered. “...Would you all come with me somewhere?”

000

Following Phobos’ instructions, they made their way to a small planet, circling close to the system’s star. They landed on a sea of red rock, dry and hot. Everyone was in extra protective gear, except Phobos, who took his helmet off in the arid atmosphere, setting it down on the rocks.

“Is this…” Strive peered around the landscape. It was barren, except for random jets of fire that burned up in straight columns all around them. They stood like geysers, with no indication of what was fueling them. “Was this, your homeworld?”

“No.” Phobos held the box under his arm as he walked over the landscape. His eyes scanned over the torrents of fire. They burned in different hues. Some red, some violet, others blue or green. “This is our graveyard.”

“Erk!” Strive immediately looked down at the ground, taking a timid step back. Phobos laughed.

“You won’t be stepping on anyone.” He had the other heart in its box under one arm. “I’ll show you.”

Phobos found a spot away from the other fires, where the ground was even and firm. He set the box down and opened it. The others stood a ways away, watching as he used a laser in his glove to dig a small divot to place the heart inside.

“...Should we-” Sung made a vague gesture at it. “-say something? A few words?”

“We didn’t know them.” Phobos got to his feet. “It’s not necessary, but if you want, you can speak out to them in your mind.”

“Very well.” Sung beat his fist to his chest. “Then please, go on.”

Phobos took several steps back, then fired a laser at the heart. Three seconds of direct fire, and the heart exploded into a pillar of violet flame that shot up straight into the sky. Phobos faced the fire and muttered something in his own language. The others bowed their heads. Out of the corner of his eye, Strive saw Meouch scowling at the ground, like he was thinking hard about something.

Phobos turned back to rejoin the group. “The fire will burn for centuries,” he told them, “and the spirit returns to the stars.”

“I see.” Sung nodded, watching the fire. “Then, our work here is done?”

“Yes.” Phobos gave them a warm smile. “Thank you for attending.” Sung returned the smile.

“It was our pleasure, Phobos. Come. Let’s return.”

They took off again, leaving the burning planet behind. The ride back to mothership was silent, until Meouch finally spoke up.

“So like, if we had dropped that thing back in medbay, or like, accidentally shot it, would it have exploded?”

“Meouch!” Sung scolded him.

“It’s fairly stable,” Phobos answered, “but you see how much energy is inside of them. With the right trigger, it could have been messy.”

“Holy shit,” Strive whispered.

“Strive!” Sung gasped. “Language!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Phobos was agonizing over how his heart was probably being used to fuel some starship somewhere. Thankfully Physik is a prideful bastard, which is why he screwed up enough that they could get him, honestly.
> 
> Sung: What should we do while we wait for him to wake up?  
> Meouch: ...Music?  
> Sung: Oh heck yes.  
> Poor medical staff having to deal with the gang running down the halls with several instruments and an entire drum set.
> 
> Unfortunately Phobos will have to wait a while before his replacement jacket gets made. In the meantime, Brian gives him a red jacket from his own home planet. It's super soft and comfortable (though no one knows what "adidas" means) and soon everyone wants one. A trend is made.


	8. Back to normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to old traditions, but with some changes.

Months later, Phobos stood atop the highest skyscraper of a bustling alien metropolis. It was a peaceful day, with clear skies and one sun shining bright while the other was just starting to peek out over the horizon. He adjusted his guitar in his hands, now repaired, and strummed out a scale. 

Once more, he played out a string of chords, but this time it was answered with a meandering bass line. A keyboard and keytar jumped in, along with a steady drumbeat. Finally, as Phobos ramped it up a soft voice joined in, gradually growing louder in confidence. The music went on, rising up over the wind to fill the air with a comfortable, relaxed melody.

Phobos began to bounce on the balls of his feet, moving along to the beat. Just being alone with his guitar was nice, but there was something stronger about so many instruments layering together. His fingers danced along to the drumbeat, and he bobbed his head to the melody as he strummed. The world was melting away from him, taking him even farther from the city down below. Soon enough, it was just music, flowing through his mind and body, nothing more in this universe.

It had been a long time since he had felt like this.

The song ended. Phobos flexed his hand, then looked back over his shoulder to flash the others behind him a thumbs-up. They all cheered and raised their instruments in response.

“This is a nice view,” Strive commented. He twirled around on the roof, arms out as if he was piloting his ship. Meouch grunted from where he sat against the stairway wall.

“It’s pretty, I guess. Dunno about these acoustics.”

“It’s a nice change of pace!” Sung grinned and tapped at his keytar. “Let’s go again!” He announced. The rest of the group cheered in agreement, and Phobos smiled behind his helmet as he nodded. Havve banged his drumsticks together, gearing them up for the next tempo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phobos: So why are you all huddled over there by the middle?  
> Sung: We don’t all have jetpacks Phobos!
> 
> You ever play a song with your buddies so good you dissociate?

**Author's Note:**

> Yaaay that's the end of this lil fic. I hope ya'll liked it. It was just supposed to be a small thing for fun, but then I got encouraged to finish and post it. Thank you to my friends for their support! ;u;


End file.
